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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I'm so glad to be back in the blogging world. I've been wanting to get back at it for some time now, but thought it would be fun to start back exactly one year since my last post. So I had to wait for Thanksgiving to make that happen. I'll be blogging about all the same things as in the past: family, homeschooling, celebrating the liturgical year, food with a few new twists thrown in.

Pinterest....I resisted it, knowing I'd be hooked, until one day about a month ago. I wanted to look up the recipe for a powdered laundry detergent which I received a sample of from a friend. She had commented in passing that she found it on Pinterest. I reluctantly typed pinterest.com into my address bar and the rest is history. I've been pinning like crazy. In my defense, I've also been doing like crazy. What I love about Pinterest is that a picture is tagged to all the links making it so easy to find the craft I pinned last week that I'm ready to make now. In the past I would add links to my favorites bar and they would get lost in a sea of words. I'd click on every link that had the word turkey in it before I'd find the right craft. By the time I located the directions my crafter would be on to other things and we'd end up forgetting about it. Not with Pinterest. I just pop onto my boards and scroll through until I find the pic and then click over to the original post and voila! we are ready to get busy. That was a long way of saying that each week I'll be doing a post called "How Pinterest Got Me Through The Week". I'll highlight the crafts, recipes and home decor ideas I try with a quick review. I wish I had been taking pics of all the things we've done already. Some hot and some NOT.

And lastly Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year. Of course there's the new little guy who's not so new anymore. He'll be 1 in just a few weeks. I'll introduce him in his own post. But so many other things as well: family, health, home addition. I'm leaving you with a lovely prayer from the Magnificat magazine.

Happy Thanksgiving from MAGNIFICAT

Dear
Friends,

We wish you a
very Happy Thanksgiving!

In celebration of
this beautiful holiday, we would like to share with you the following
Thanksgiving Day blessing and litany that you might like to pray with your
family and loved ones.

Most
merciful Father,

your
gifts of love are countless

and
your goodness infinite.

On
this Thanksgiving Day we come before you

with
gratitude for your kindness:

open
our hearts to concern for others

so
that we may share your gifts

of
loving service with all your people.

We
ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son,

who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one
God,
for ever and ever.

Litany
of Thanksgiving

Response: We thank you, O Lord.

This
is a day to thank God for all his many blessings in our lives. With gratitude we
now say:

For
the love of God, for faith, family, and friends: R/

For
joys, successes, achievements, and accomplishments: R/

For
health, safety, work, and rest: R/

For
struggles, sorrows, trials, and sufferings: R/

For
our jobs, for those who support us, for our education, and for the chance to
serve: R/

For
our gifts, talents, and abilities, for honors, for strength and energy: R/

For
our homes, for food, warmth, and shelter, for all the things that have made us
happy: R/

For
our hobbies and pets, for happy
memories, for our favorite things, for leisure and relaxation: R/

For
our nation, for freedom and peace, for teachers, leaders, and those who give us
good example: R/

For
the ability to say "I'm sorry," for the grace of repentance, for the forgiveness
of others, for the generosity of others: R/

For
good advice, for financial security, for the trust others put in us, for
tenderness, understanding, and compassion: R/

For
kindness, goodness, joy, and laughter, for the times we have helped others or
made them happy: R/

For
all the wonders of creation, for beauty, music, sports, and art, for new
opportunities and second chances: R/

For
failures and rejection, for all the ways we have grown up and become better
people: R/

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A Little About Me

Hello, I'm Jennifer, a former public school science teacher, now homeschooling our seven children. I love sharing our experience with homeschooling special needs, especially dyslexia and Down syndrome. You'll also find plenty of family approved cranberry recipes, resources for homeschooling your high schooler, and all the antics of a large Catholic family. Look around; and please don't be shy - comments always welcome.